


The Mara

by metabaron



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Evil Spirit, Gen, Germanic Folklore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-24
Updated: 2014-10-24
Packaged: 2018-02-22 11:07:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2505563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/metabaron/pseuds/metabaron
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A young Hermione Granger discovers something terrible has taken up residence in her home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Mara

**Author's Note:**

  * For [redgear](https://archiveofourown.org/users/redgear/gifts).



Hermione paced in a tight arc around her bed, taking in deep, steadying breaths. It was real. It was real. Her books had confirmed it. There was some awful, magical monster in her parents' bedroom, and she was the only one who could stop it.

Not ten minutes earlier, she'd been creeping down the hallway to the bathroom (having stayed up far too late reading her wonderful new school books -- she was a witch! It still didn't feel quite real) and she'd passed her parents' door and had darted a quick glance inside.

She'd seen her parents, asleep in their bed.

She'd seen the pretty pastoral painting hanging above their headboard.

She'd seen a shadowy thing sitting on the bed between them, hunched over her mother's face. Its lamplight eyes shone in the darkness and its needle-like claws glittered as they moved across Hermione's mother's sleeping form.

Hermione had frozen there, in the hallway, unable to move or even look away from the beast as it slowly opened its gaping, froglike mouth and drew white smoke from her mother's mouth into its own.

She had whimpered quietly, and then clamped her hands over her mouth when she realised what she'd done.

It was too late. The thing had heard her. It closed its mouth and slowly turned its bright yellow eyes to the door.

Possessed by a fear greater than any she'd felt before, Hermione had dropped to the floor, and had pressed her face into the hall carpet, turning away from the bedroom door.

She'd given herself to the count of five before she'd slowly inched to her room, shut her door as silently as possible and then collapsed to the floor. Her heart was hammering in her chest, and she could barely breathe, but, but...

She knew what it was. There was something awfully familiar about this, about the thing in her parents' bedroom, and she knew she'd read it recently.

She put her hand on her chest and let her pulse return to normal. There was no sense in trying to research anything when she wasn't thinking clearly.

Hermione stood up slowly, one hand against the wall. I can do this, she thought. I am a witch and I'm armed with the most powerful weapons in the world-- books and knowledge.

She'd found it in the third book, the one for her Defence Against the Dark Arts class. The line drawing leered and snapped at her and Hermione started, nearly dropping the book. But there it was, in ink on paper, the thing she'd seen.

It was a Mara, a Night Mare, and would ride its victims in their sleep, stealing their breath little by little each night until there was nothing left. She didn't know how long it had been in her home, but her parents' exhaustion over the past few weeks suddenly made terrible sense.

She read over the section on the Mare again and then a third time. The book's author dismissed it as a 'minor infestation', easily rid of, but she didn't dare take it lightly. It wasn't the author's parents who were under attack by this creature!

The book had landed on her bed with a thud, and Hermione'd buried her fingers in her hair and set to pacing. This was all up to her now. The book didn't say if normal people like her parents -- Muggles to wizarding sorts -- could see the Night Mare, but she didn't think it was likely. Oh, her parents would say they believe her if she told them, and she'd always been able to see strange things, things that she knew now were because of her magic, but her parents were solid, sceptical people who'd want proof before acknowledging it was real.

No. She had to do this tonight. She had to do this now.

She left the book on her bed, grabbed her wand in one hand and a bright red belt with a small brass buckle in the other, and set off to her parents' bedroom.

She muttered the incantation under her breath, _Stupefy Stupefy Stupefy_. There would be only one chance to do this and she had to make it count. The book didn't say if the Mare would become aggressive if attacked, and she didn't want to take that risk.

The bedroom door opened with a creak, and she winced-- and then froze. The Mare was still on her parents' bed, and had now moved on to her father.

But it had heard her open the door. And was looking at her. Its eyes were bright like a cat's but the pupils were square and goatish. There was a keenness in those eyes, a cleverness that was more than animalistic hunger. This wasn't just a beast. This was a malevolent, thinking creature and her parents would never be free of it unless she did something.

The Mare twitched, but Hermione moved first.

She tossed her belt on the bed, and the Mare shrieked like a dying animal. It moved spasmodically, as if now touching her parents' bed caused it great pain, and started lurching towards her.

Hermione raised her wand arm and with a jerky motion hissed, " _Stupefy_!"

The Mare stumbled, and collapsed into a heap.

Hermione pressed her hands over her mouth and stifled a sob of relief. She quickly secured it in a spare towel. She would dispose of it later, but there was something much more important she had to do now.

"Mum?" she whispered, bringing her free hand to her mother's shoulder. "Mum, wake up."

Her mother didn't respond, and for an instant Hermione knew she'd been too late, that she hadn't been able to save them-- and then her mother's eyes opened blearily.

"Hermione? Sweetheart? What are you-- what time is it? Why are you up?"

Hermione wiped at her eyes and smiled shakily. "'M sorry, I just, I had a really bad dream..."


End file.
